This claim that the Fed should have â€œindependenceâ€ is a canard. They very much enjoy their comfortable pattern of bailing out friends and devaluing the currency with no oversight and no accountability.

Iâ€™ve discussed just a few benefits of sound money in the last two weeks, and contrasted them to the perils of fiat currency.Â Sound money keeps government spending in check, keeps trade fair and honest, which reduces the temptations, and many underlying causes, for governments to wage wars.Â It also gives you the peace of mind of knowing that your savings will be able to sustain you in your retirement.

So if sound money is such a good thing, what is stopping people from simply trading with each other in gold and silver?Â Why are you still being paid in fiat dollars, and why canâ€™t you pay for gas in gold?Â The answer is that the government has enacted policies that provide considerable stumbling blocks to such transactions.

Many who agree with me on a lot of other issues, do not understand my enthusiasm for gold and sound money or why I spend so much time studying and talking about monetary policy.Â It’s true that I talk about money differently than most, but the fact is sound money offers many benefits.

The Latin term â€œfiatâ€ roughly translates to â€œthere shall beâ€. When we refer to fiat money, we are referring to money that exists because the government declares it into existence. It is not based on production or earnings, and not backed by any commodity. It is solely based on trusting the government.

Fiat money is exchanged in the economy as long as there is faith in the government that issues it.

Oil prices are on the minds of many Americans as gas hits $4 a gallon, and continues to surge.Â How high can prices go?Â How can we solve these problems?Â What, or who, is to blame?

Part of the answer lies in understanding bubbles and monetary inflation, but especially the Federal Reserve System.Â The Federal Reserve is charged with controlling inflation through interest rate manipulation, however, many fail to realize that creating money, and therefore inflation, is really its only tool.Â When the Federal Reserve inflates the dollar as drastically as it has in the past few decades, the first users of the newly created money go in search of investments for their dollars.Â They must invest this money quickly and aggressively before it loses value.Â